Martin O’Neill and Age Hareide are used to spending time in each other’s pockets. After all, the Ireland manager used to be Hareide’s landlord in the 1980s. Now he is looking to evict his former tenant from the race for World Cup qualification.

Tonight O’Neill faces Hareide’s Denmark in the first leg of their play-off showdown in Copenhagen.

The two managers first crossed paths at Manchester City, where they both played under John Bond in the 1981-82 season. When they both departed for Norwich City the following year, O’Neill bought a flat in Norfolk and took Hareide under his wing, with the Dane becoming his lodger during the early stages of his loan spell at Carrow Road.